Garden-in-Movies – ShortFilmFest

International Short Film Competition Dedicated to the Garden

Announcing the 2025 Call for Entries

The Garden-in-Movies Film Festival, now in its fourth edition, announces the international short film competition dedicated to the theme of the Garden – Garden-in-Movies/ShortFilmFest. This competition is open to all works that, through the language of cinema, enhance nature, the environment, landscape, ecology, and environmental sustainability as drivers of development and cultural exchange. The garden thus becomes a metaphor for any place, context, dynamic, or relationship capable of cultivating and nurturing fundamental values in cultural, political, social, and artistic spheres. Therefore, works that interpret the concept of the “garden” from this perspective are also eligible for selection.

The event is rooted in the Radicepura Garden Festival, the Mediterranean landscape biennial, and aims to explore the theme of the garden through cinematic storytelling. It offers a broad perspective that connects the visual world with the centuries-old culture of gardens and landscapes, fostering a contemporary and multicultural debate. Themes include nature and landscape, but also ecology, sustainability, education, culture, human rights, social commitment, and environmental respect. The festival not only showcases cinematic novelties but also seeks to discover new talents and promote innovative and experimental works featuring fresh storytelling approaches. A Jury of Experts and a Public Jury will award the Best Short Film Prize and the Audience Award, respectively. The finalist films will be screened at the Radicepura Park on August 1-2-3, as part of Garden-in-Movies 2025.

Competition Details

The Garden-in-Movies/ShortFilmFest international short film competition is open to all fiction, documentary, and animated short films, in any narrative genre (drama, comedy, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, noir, etc.), with a maximum duration of 15 minutes (including opening and closing credits). The competition is open to works of all nationalities, both published and unpublished, as long as they were produced after January 1, 2023.

Registration and Deadline

Entries must be submitted via the form available on the website:
www.radicepura.it/garden-in-movies/

For further information, contact:
📧 gardeninmovies@radicepura.com
📞 +39 095964154

The deadline for registration and submission of the required materials is April 30, 2025.

The Festival

The Garden-in-Movies Film Festival (GinM), founded in 2017 as part of the Radicepura Garden Festival, the Mediterranean landscape biennial, returns for its fourth edition on August 1-2-3, 2025, at the Radicepura Botanical Park in Giarre (Catania, Italy).

At the heart of the festival is the concept of the Garden explored through cinematic storytelling, embracing every aspect of life where fundamental cultural, political, social, and artistic values are nurtured. Themes include nature and landscape, but also ecology, sustainability, education, culture, human rights, social commitment, and environmental awareness.

The festival unfolds over three days of screenings, discussions, and conversations with distinguished guests. Feature films are presented in three curated sections:

• “Roots” (Italy)

• “Mediterranean Essence” (Mediterranean Countries)

• “Beyond the Garden” (Rest of the World)

Additionally, the festival features the competitive short film section, the Garden-in-Movies/ShortFilmFest, where a Jury of Experts and a Public Jury award the Best Short Film Prize and the Audience Award.

The festival takes place in the breathtaking Radicepura Botanical Park, which transforms into an open-air botanical lounge and starlit cinema for three days in early August. Amidst the scents and colors of the park’s flora, with Mount Etna as a backdrop and the sea on the horizon, the festival offers an enchanting cinematic experience.

The Garden-in-Movies Film Festival is conceived and directed by Ornella Sgroi, journalist and film critic, and is organized in collaboration with the Radicepura Foundation.

Through the power of cinema, the Garden-in-Movies Festival seeks to celebrate nature and the environment as catalysts for growth and transformation, expanding the concept of the “garden” into a metaphor for landscape and life itself—above all, as a cultural, political, and social value. In the name of Beauty.

Contacts

Festival & Competition: gardeninmovies@radicepura.com
Press Office: press@stilema-to.it